If you ask Nicole James what she likes about working in the credit union industry, she might tell you it’s her bosses. That’s a good thing – since she has about 50,000 of them.
As the senior vice president of retail services at RTN Federal Credit Union, James considers the credit union’s nearly 50,000 members to be her “big bosses.”
But James never really expected to pursue a career in the credit union industry when she started out as a teller. Back then, she was just looking for a part-time job she could balance with her full-time studies at Boston University. She ultimately graduated with a management degree, but she stayed on at the credit union, and at some point along the way, she fell in love with the cooperative atmosphere of the industry.
In the intervening 30 years, James has worked nearly every position she can within the credit union business, from teller to member services to back office operations, and eventually worked her way up to CEO of Medical Area Federal Credit Union, before it merged with RTN.
James loves strategizing, she said, but at the credit union, she can do it in a way that helps people. If, for instance, she has to turn down an applicant for a loan, she tries to help that person with credit counseling so they can get their finances back on track.
“I love the service element of credit unions. It’s about doing business, but it’s doing good business for people, to make their financial lives better,” she said.
For James, that service ethic has its roots in her childhood. Growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, she recalled how her mother would invite friends and neighbors over for Christmas, when she sensed they might otherwise be lonely.
“When [tragedies] happen, I know that my mother is going to be figuring out if there are blankets she can send, or money she can send,” James said. “There was always this idea that, even as you’re doing well, you give back because that’s what success is about.”
Homelessness – especially youth homelessness – is one issue that’s near and dear to James’ heart. She’s helped to establish the Walk Home, a fundraising event that’s raised more than $100,000 over five years for homeless families and teens through the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless.
Appropriately, James also serves as the chair of the Massachusetts Credit Union League’s Social Responsibility Committee, a position she’s held since 2004.
James said she was a little bit surprised to learn she’d been named a Credit Union Hero, but she’s come to think about it in a way that she probably didn’t intend to be so synonymous with the credit union ethos.
“I was proud and honored, but it always takes a village. It’s really not just about me, so I feel like I’m representing my credit union,” she said. “I’m just grateful for where I am and I’ve had a good ride. It’s been fun and it’s been worthwhile.” n
